Deconcentrator for locomotive boilers



Jan. 7, 1936. R, OSTERMANN 2,026,951

DECONCENTRATOR FOR LOCOMOTIVE BOILERS Filed Aug. 24, 191 34 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEY 1936- R. M. OSTERMANN DECONCENTRATOR FOR LOCOMOTIVE BOILERS Filed Aug. 24, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR fR/V. OS'TZANHNN BY ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 7, 1936 UNITED STATES- PATENT OFFICE DEOONCENTRATOR FOR LOCOMOTIVE .BOILERS Rudolf M. Ostermann, Kenilworth, IlL, asslgnor to The superheater Company, New York, N. Y.

Application August 24, 1934, Serial No. 741,191

a 7 Claims. (Cl.122.459)

This invention relates to so-called deconcentrators. These devices have for their object the purification of steam and accomplish it by bubbling the steam after its generation in the boiler through water. The steam, on its liberation from the water in the boiler, ordinarily carries with it a certain amount of moisture which contains impurities of at least the concentration of the boiler water. These particles of water are, when the steam is bubbled through the water in the deconcentrator, washed out and whatever moisture the steam takes with it on leaving the water in the deconcentrator will be'of the same con centration of impurities as the water in the, de-

- concentrator. This'deconcentrator water must 85 nozzles offer a certain resistance to the flow ofthe steam and as a consequence the pressure in the boiler will besomewhat higher than the pressure in the deconcentrator steam space. The deconcentrator is usually worked out in the form of a separate drum and because of the difference in pressure just mentioned this drum is placed at a point above the boiler surface. If the drum were not located sufficiently high above the boiler water level, the difierence in pressure I would force water from the boiler into the deconcentrator drum through the conduit connecting the two and there would be danger of flooding it and introducing water to the pipe leading to the superheater and the engine or turbine. 0 In stationary practice it is not difiicult ordinarily to give the deconcentrator drum the required elevated location. Deconcentrators would be very beneficial in the case of locomotives also, particularly to prevent the scaling up of the 45 superheater tubes by the scale-forming material carried in suspension or solution by the moisture entrained by the steam. The application of such deconcentrators to locomotives, however, is connected with difficulties because-the '50 clearance limitations imposed by bridges, tun-.-

nels', etc. do not admit of placing a drum at the required height.

.My invention has for its object to make available the use of deconcentrators on locomotives 65 and does so without the u e 01 an elevated The invention will readily be understood from the following description which is to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings. In I these drawings Fig. 1 illustrates in lateral elevation a portion of alocomotive boiler with my invention applied; Fig. 2 isa section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view'on line 3-3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a sectional view online 4-4 of Fig. 2; and Fig. 5 is a sectional view on line 5--5 of Fig. 4.

v 10 The barrel! of ,the boiler has the usual-steam dome 2 from which leads the dry pipe 3. I is a separator intended to separate out as much moisture as possible from the steam before it enters dry pipe 3..

The usual' hues and fire tubes appear at 5 and G. v v

Instead of carrying the dry pipe forward in the usual way through tube sheet I either directly to the engines or to the superheater header, 20 I partition off a space above thefire tubes Sand preferably forward of the steam dome 2 to form the deconcentrator space through which the deconcentrator water flows, and deliver the steam from dry pipe 3 into this water. The partition 5 dividing off this space is, in the form illustrated,

given the shaped a tray with a flat bottom 8,-

sides 9-9 and ends Ill-'. The dry pipe 3 delivers to a T-h'ead H with which communicates a plurality of pipes l2--I2 arranged hori- 30 zontally in the lower part of the tray near the I bottom 8, and provided with perforations l3-l3.

Into the'tray is delivered the feed-water on its way to the boiler. This feed water comes from the tender (not shown) by means of the pipe I! and is forced by pump l5 through the pipe IS, the feed water heater I'I, pipe l8, check valve 19 and connecting pipe 20 into the tray. For reasons stated hereinafter a float-controlled valve is interposed between check-valve l9 and 40 the outlet of pipe 20, and a by-pass from the check valve It to the boiler is provided. These features will be described below.

Within the tray adjacent to the side opposite the connecting pipe 20 asmall trough-like space 2| is partitioned off. Into this trough water from the deconcentrator space flows when the level reaches a certain height. A pipe 22 leads from the trough to a pump 23 and a pipe 24 in turn leads from this pump to a check valve 25, the 50,

water a screen 21 the purpose of which is to equalize the flow of the steam through the body of the water. A series of transverse plates 28-23 is also placed into this space to prevent the surging of the water with the acceleration and deceleration of the locomotive.

The pump 23 is driven by a displacement motor or steam turbine 23a. Preferably this motor 23a is placed in series with the steam cylinder |5a of the pump IS, the arrangement shown having it on the outlet side of this pump so that the exhaust from the pump is delivered by means of pipe 29 to the motor and then flows by means of purer feed water.

water heater l1 into pipe 30 to join the exhaust steam in pipe 3| which is on its way from the main engine exhaust to the feedwater heater II. By an arrangement of this sort an approximate proportionality will be obtained between the volume of water delivered by the main feed pump to the deconcentratorchamber and the volume of water handied by' the differential head pump 23. This proportion cannot of course be exact and in practice 23 of such it is'necessary to make the pump design and size that it will pump more .water than pump 5. Its size nevertheless will be rat-her small because the head against which it pumps is relatively insignificant as compared with the head against which pump I5 has to deliver.

The steam delivered into the body of the water in the deconcentrator space bubbles through the water and gives up what moisture and impurities it carries and on leaving the water will carry some other water with it which, however, is the This steam and the moisture it contains is taken from the deconcentrator steam space through a series of slits 32 in the boiler shell into the dry pipe 33 which delivers it to the superheater header 34. The superheater is not illustrated and may be of any usual or desired form. After having been superheated in the superheater the steam is delivered by means of the steam pipes 35 (only one being shown in the drawings) to the main engines of the locomotive.

The operation of the device described above will be understood from the description given but may be briefly summarized as follows: Water is pumped by means of pump l5 through the feed the deconcentrator space where it will stand to the upper edge of trough 2|. When this level has been reached and water flows over into the trough, such water will flow into the pipe 22 and be forced by differential head pump 23 into thewater space of the boiler. Steam liberated in the boiler flows through separator 4 and dry pipe 3 to the perforated pipes deliver it into the water in the deconcentrator space. Escaping from these pipes the steam bubbles through the water, through the screen 21, and escapes from the surface of g the water, collects in the upper portion of the deconcentrator space, and flows through perforations 32 and pipe 33 to the superheater.

It was stated above that the capacity of pump 23 is such that it can remove water from the deconcentrator at a rate greater than that at which pump I5 is supplying it. There is, however, a. danger, remote as it may be, that something may go wrong with the pump 23 while pump i5 continues to deliver water into the deconcentrator." Such an event would be a serious matter as the deconcentrator would then fill up with water, this water would floodthe superheater and reach the engine where it would knock out the cylinder heads or cause other serious damage. Such a danger must be definitely guarded against and I do this by the following provision which was briefly referred to above.

I insert a valve, preferably of the gate valve type, and shown at 40, between the check valve I9 5 and the outlet of pipe 20. This valve is float controlled, the float being arranged in chamber 4|, which lies outside of the boiler and above the deconcentrator space and communicates with such deconcentrator space through the opening 1 42 which is above the normal water level in the deconcentrator. The float itself is shown at 43.

It is attached to the lever 44 pivoted at 45, the lever acting on the valve stem 46 extending through the opening 42. Normally, the space inside of the chamber 4| will be filled with steam and the float 43 will be in its lowest position, as shown in the drawings. Should the water level in the deconcentrator rise for any reason to such a point that opening 42 is closed, then the steam in chamber 4| will promptly condense, the chamber being preferably ribbed or provided with other protuberances on the outside in order to increase the rate of cooling of the chamber and the consequent condensation of the trapp d steam. The moment the steam condenses, the higher pressure prevailing in the deconcentrator chamber will force water into the chamber 4|, thereby causing the float to rise and shut off valve v40. This float chamber arrangement with the action described is a well known one to which I lay no claim by itself but only as used in combination with other elements of my invention. The purpose of using it rather than a float arranged directly in the deconcentrator chamber or in a chamber communicating with it in which the water level rises and falls with the water level in the deconcentrator chamber, is to get an accelerated rise of the water level when required and a consequent prompt shutting ofl of the valve.

Preferably I further arrange a by-pass from check valve 9 to the boiler which will allow pump IE to deliver directly tothe boiler in case valve 40 is shut off as described. This by-pass' is shown at "and extends from the check valve I9 to any convenient point in the boiler. In this by-pass there is placed a loaded check valve 43 which opens in response to a pressure somewhat higher than that to which check valve |3 responds. In the specific form illustrated, this loading is accomplished by means of a spring 49. By means of this arrangement water supplied by pump I! after float 43 has closed valve 40 will open check valve 48 and enter the boiler directly through pipe 41.

By the means just described the danger of water entering the superheater and reaching the engine is effectively prevented.

What I claim is: 00

1. In a locomotive type boiler, the combination of partitioning means dividing oil! a portion of the space in the upper portion of the boiler from the remaining boiler space, a feed water pipe to deliver feed water for the boiler into said portion of the space, an auxiliary pumping means, a conduit to deliver water from said portion of the space to said auxiliary pumping means, a weir interposed adjacent to the inlet to said conduit so as to prevent the water level in said portion of the space from falling below a predetermined point, a conduit leading from the auxiliary pumping means to the water space of the boiler, a steam dome on the boiler, means to lead steam from the dome and to deliver it below the mp 76 face of the water in-said portion of the space, and means to take ofi steam from the upper portion of said portion of the space.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, said portion of the space being substantially entirely within the usual boiler steam space and forward of the steam dome.

3. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1, said feed water pipe delivering all of the feed water i to said portion of the space, and said means to lead steam from the dome and to deliver it below the surface of thevwa-ter. in said portion of the space including a plurality of nozzles opening into 'the water.

- 4. Apparatus according to claim 1, said partitioning means having 'the form of a flat-bottomed tray, said means to lead steam from the dome and to deliver it below the surface of the water in said portion of the space comprising a plurality of horizontal perforated pipes arranged near the bottom of the tray,

5. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 and further comprising a valve capable of shutting.

off the flow of water through said feed water pipe, and means to cause said valve to close when the water level in'said portion of the space exceeds a predetermined height and to open it when it is below such height.

6.' Apparatus in accordance with claim 1, and 5 further comprising a valve capable of shutting ofi the flow of water through said feed water pipe, a chamber outside of the boiler and above the normal water level in said portion of the space and in communication with said portion of 10 the space by means of an opening normally above the water level but closed by the water when the level exceeds the predetermined point,- a fioatin said chamber, and means operatively connecting the float to the valve to openit when the float is below a predetermined point and to close it when the float is above such point. y

7. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 and further comprising means to shut ofi. said feedwater pipe when the'level of the .water in said 2() portion of the space exceeds a predetermined point and to by-pass feed-water around said portion of the space directly to the boiler. v

RUDOLF M. OSTERMANN. 

